Collaborating Initiatives

Funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems (ECCS), Florida’s new 3-year grant, “Trauma & Toxic Stress: Changing the Trajectory for Florida’s Most Vulnerable Children to Help Them Thrive,” is piloting two “baby court teams” in Escambia and East Pasco Counties. The grant is focused on four elements of systemic change: trauma awareness, trauma screening, expansion of evidence-based interventions, and a trauma lens across systems. Toward those goals, a new task force has been established under The Florida Children and Youth Cabinet to support a trauma lens across state agencies. These baby court teams will address the need for trauma-informed services and offer the opportunity of community-based interventions that can change the trajectory for families involved with the court system. For more information regarding trauma-focused baby court teams, contact Dr. Mimi Graham, Director, FSU’s Center for Prevention and Early Intervention Policy at mgraham@cpeip.fsu.edu.

Funded by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Florida Project LAUNCH (Linking Actions for Unmet Needs in Children’s Health), aims to prevent youth emotional and behavioral disorders by improving family function and the quality of the parent-child relationship. The project broadens prevention through parent training, skill-building, and selective interventions for young children. Led by a partnership between the Florida Department of Children and Families and the Florida Department of Health, LAUNCH focuses on Lealman Corridor, an area consisting of four zip codes in Pinellas County. The project provides support for parent educators from the MIECHV-funded PAT program who serve this area and collaborates on professional development activities for staff serving substance-involved families.